In Augustine

In Augustine
almost everyone 
sings a different song
of the heavens and the earth
and whatever else comes along

Husbands and wives
sons and daughters
together and broken
nothing here is out of sight
laughter isn’t spoken

Waitress, banker, judge
a doctor coming home
this is the town
and these are the people
in Augustine

7 suns, 52, 12 moons, 365
searching for our lives
searching for our lives
searching for our lives

In Augustine
almost everyone
is better than the rest
two blackbirds in the sky
with nothing to confess

In the afternoon
down by the lake
the young boys sail their boats
the young girls skip and sing
to serenade their lighted floats

Sara

She said:
He was clueless, though not at first
he must have loved me though I can’t be sure
as I walk this deserted path
for the first time I can hear my voice
for the first time I can hear my own voice

Married by a judge with no sense at all
assured by him I wasn’t too young
but I was and I knew it
and in time I outgrew it
Judge Robey was a very bad man

When he put down his busy box
it’s soft glow the only light in our room
he looked like a ghost come alive for a time
instead of the banker that he was
Judge Robey was a very bad man

A strong wind is blowing
with a howling voice
a kind sun warms the air
from the rear-view mirror of my rented car
I saw him standing there

I took classes at a local school
a 20-year old salesgirl at night
with a mother gone and a father drunk
I had needs only I could meet
Judge Robey was a very bad man

He was older and so self-assured
I was timid until I wasn’t
he carried his inherited wealth
and smelled of privilege and 

Daniel

She said that she said it before
I just can’t recall, I just can’t recall when it was
she said that Judge Robey was bad
but we both had said yes, we both had said
yes to it all

I loved Sara, I’m sure that I did
her quiet observations
but all her tenderness was wasted on me
no match for my heavy hand

Banker, relic, tender soul
all meet angelic hosts
restless daughters, blinded sons
this town of hurried ghosts

There are too many ghosts in Augustine
someone you knew, somebody already gone
a past that isn’t the past
kept her rooted in place, rooted in place until now

She resented my expectations
my invested dividends
but all the gold that I might have won
no match for her decency

“Easy” Goodman

Here he is
an old man in a dry month
his house a broken thing
here he is
no wife, no daughter
no lonely church bell rings

He began by picking locks 
then studied the science of taking his due
no one called him “Mr. Goodman” 
it was “Easy”, always “Easy”

When his wife finally left
and the drinking started and the pain screamed
a heartless man like Judge Robey
could only make things worse 

But then Sara, little darling
she knew he was a better man:
rocking in a wicker chair
singing a lullaby
cooking the evening meal, sunset in his eyes

He was always disturbing the peace
usually on a payday
a foolish heart already broken
he found the Judge’s wrath 

If guilt is always guilt
then who can ever forgive us
in the darkness of his chosen path
atonement arrives on its own

Judge Robey

Judge Winston Michael Robey
he liked the sound of that
special in his eyes
entitled by his lies
the Judge was a very bad man
the Judge was a very bad man

He married and divorced
the same couple in the same year
the wife was so unhappy
the husband lost at sea
the Judge was thinking of later than night
the Judge was already gone

Who will bury Judge Robey
who will lay him down
empty eyes in a frozen tomb
no arrives from town

He stuck the immigrant
why create false hopes
the public good forgotten
an apple long since rotten
he broke the back of the public drunk
he broke the back of an easy man

The Judge liked them very young
fresh as rain and cold as death
Missy Catalina just knew
he was an easy screw
her design was easy money
her design was easy to see

So Missy Catalina
with a man in several states
played a deadly hand
a serpent could understand
she took the Judge’s cash and more
she shot him when the morning came

Christina and Alison

Her hair the color of hay
a river of curls down her back
Christina of the morning sun
married right out of school
Christina of the morning sun
watched her friends grow old

A house of stone could last
she had made the safest plans
Christina of the morning sun
a blackbird falling down
Christina of the morning sun
was waiting for Sara to come

Two blackbirds strike an unsteady pose
on a wooden fence in the snow
one on this side the other on that
there are always two

The day she left Augustine
a broken bridge was crossed
Alison of the midnight moon
saying goodbye to her friends
Alison of the midnight moon
left it all behind

An EMT and a waitress
a singer in the band
Alison of the midnight moon
always wandering in place
Alison of the midnight moon
was waiting for Sara to come

Dr. Amber Durrell

She got away from this place
no more proms
no more small town miseries

The one who got away
a Harvard grad
now conquering infirmities 

Attend to the faith
celestial spark
a hand to the fallen
a light in the dark 

She knew she never should return
to Augustine
no lighted candle lit her path

A lifetime of forgets 
could not erase
a heartbreak’s aftermath

Attend to the faith
celestial spark
a hand to the fallen
a light in the dark

A million miles away from home
she still hears Augustine

The one who left returned
a doctor now
picking berries from a sidewalk stand

But rain is never far away
not even now
as the sunshine warms her hands

Her newest patients sat
and spoke in signs
she could not understand 

The psychopath Malevolents
Stacy and Bob
tried to hide their bloody plans

Blake Johnson

On a good day
I assure myself
that I was stopped for driving fast

On a bad day
in my darkest heart
I know the truth is somewhere else

The stern judge, he didn’t care
He’d twist the law his way
He saw a black man and found his guilt
And went on with his day

My gold-framed degree
sitting on the wall
cannot sway a rotten judge

I’ve been black my whole life
finding ways to lose
I was always born to lose

The stern judge, he didn’t care
his mistress wasn’t home
but Missy C was in my arms
he would object if he’d known

On a good day
I can see the sun
in every act of kindness

On a bad day
my spirit lags
unable still to break these chains

The stern judge, he didn’t care
He’d twist the law his way
He saw a black man and found his guilt
And went on with his day

I could fly away
and still be here
always waiting for hearts to change

I’ve been black my whole life
finding ways to lose
I was always born to lose

The stern judge, he didn’t care
his mistress wasn’t home
but Missy C was in my arms
he would object if he’d known

The Malevolents, Stacy and Bob

The day they arrived
there was nothing to say
the wind blew
like any other day

So simple their shoes
and plain wrinkled clothes
how could we know
the children were already dead

Holy warriors blind to truth
their certainty a sin
captive kids all dressed alike
invisible and thin

Two parents in front
with six skinny kids
how could we see
the horror that they hid

The children await
with their empty eyes
shackled to their beds
barely able to survive

The California couple
the children innocent
the wind outside is singing
Gabriel’s lament

O children arise
so small and pale
see the open window
escape your winter’s jail

The day they arrived
there was nothing to say
the wind blew
like any other day

In Augustine (Reprise)

In Augustine
almost everyone
together on a hill
their work is finally done
and yet they linger still

Just one more time
before they go
to feel the wind upon their face
to smell the lilacs in the air
to dream of a coming place  

7 suns, 52, 12 moons, 365
searching for our lives

The Preacher, The Poet, The Undertaker

The stars are so cruel
the world is laughing
the shadow of a blackbird
the painting of the sky

Everybody wants a little love
the kind you find in every single heart
everybody wants a little rest

Afflict the comfortable
comfort the afflicted
heal the broken-hearted
preach deliverance to the captives

Buried side-by-side
the banker and bank robber
you don’t know when you come and why
or when you go and where